My Chickens So Far...

Leia - We got her and Ahsoka from Omlet when we first got the Eglu in March 2012. They were named after Star Wars characters (what Jude was into at the time). Leia was beautiful, and the top hen of the two. On the first night I was trying to get her into the cage and she escaped, ran up my arm and gave me a massive scratch on the neck! She was never as friendly, and always harder to catch, than Ahsoka. She also went broody a couple of times. Unfortunately she got very swollen (possibly egg yolk peritonitis) and I had to take her to the vets to be put to sleep in early January. Even worse, it was an emergency appointment as it was a Sunday, and so ended up costing me £90. Ouch.

Ahsoka - always looked a bit scrawny and pecked on, although she was the best layer. But once Leia was gone she absolutely blossomed! She became very plump and her feathers were lovely and shiny. I was worried about her being lonely but now I think she would probably have been fine on her own. Bless her, she was such a good chicken. My girls had lots of cuddles with her. Ahsoka was killed by a fox last Monday. There was no mark on her, no feathers missing, so hopefully it was pretty instant. She and Leia had been free ranging during the day in the garden, as long as I was home, for 2 years. No more unsupervised ranging for my chickens now.

(Having looked for photos of my two original girls, I've realised that most of them are probably on my now-long-defunct iPhone. D'oh.)

Tauriel - (Jude is now into The Hobbit films!) I picked up her and Sally a week or so after Leia passed away, as company for Ahsoka. She had a very large, floppy comb but otherwise appeared to be ok, and started laying a few days after we got her. Ahsoka quickly established herself as top chicken and was quite vicious at first, but it seemed to be settling down. As everybody who rescues battery hens says, it was so lovely to watch their first few days of scratching around. Sadly the fox got her at the same time as Ahsoka - there was just a pile of her feathers in the garden.

And Sally… well, poor Sally deserves a post of her very own.